Apple reverses ban on HKmap.live app tracking Hong Kong protests & police

A bit of good news for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, and the app developers trying to help them not get injured or killed by police.

Apple has reportedly reversed its decision to ban the app HKmap.live, which allows users to track protests and police activity in Hong Kong. The earlier move to ban the app was seen by many as acquiescence to China's foreign policy, over the urgent needs of Apple users.

Thanks everyone, @Apple finally made the right decision. Will update later as things are going crazy in #HK now. pic.twitter.com/PsnNry0V21

— HKmap.live (@hkmaplive) October 4, 2019

(Our Cory Doctorow has written about the app previously here at Boing Boing.)

As Cory explained when Apple yanked HKMapLive:

Hkmap Live is a crowdsourced app that uses reports from a Telegram group to track the locations of protesters, police, and traffic, as well as the use of antipersonnel weapons like tear gas, mass arrests of people wearing t-shirts associated with the protest movement, and mass transit closures in proximity to demonstrations (it's a bit like Sukey, the British anti-kettling app).

The escalation of indiscriminate violence by Hong Kong's police has driven mainstream opposition to the Chinese state and the Hong Kong authorities. The protests continue to grow, the the police continue to attack families, elderly people, bystanders, and the main body of protesters, with no mercy or quarter -- including the on-camera, point-blank shooting of an unarmed, nonviolent protester. In this context, Hkmap isn't just a way for protesters to evade police, it's a survival lifeline for innocent people facing an occupying army of sadistic armed thugs.